Laura’s Nantucket Guidebook - The Summer

You can bring your own food to the brewery! Which is helpful when posting up with children (but they also have food trucks) and beaches are close by to the brewery as well. You can purchase beers to go for the beach! Bartlett Farm is also just up the street and we love to grab snacks there if we want to load up before the beach or brewery. Don't fret if you don't feel like bringing your own food with you, our favorite food trucks at the brewery are Eat Fire Farm Pizza and Millie's.

As soon as you know you are coming to Nantucket, BOOK RESTAURANT RESERVATIONS! I cannot stress this enough. Download RESY, Open Table, or give the restaurant you are interested in a call. It is a small island, small restaurants and the ones you probably want to go to, get entirely booked for the night. You rarely get lucky by just stopping by and getting a table. Also a note on restaurant reservations: embrace the later or super early times available. Grab a bottle of wine and have drinks on the beach before or after. Watch the sunset.

It's New England! It's about 10 degrees cooler here in the summer than it is on the mainland. Pack layers, bring rain gear. Toss that extra sweater in your bag for going out at night.

Nantucket is an island of highs and lows, busy summers, slow winters. Most of the working class here is in the service industry that heavily rely on tips. Tip your servers, and be extra nice-- they are doing their best!

Nantucket is in its own time capsule. Some places *only* take cash or local check. A lot of that has changed with COVID but be prepared to have cash on hand. There is a Bank of America ATM at the bottom of Main Street in town.

Nantucket takes trash and recycling very seriously. You'll note walking in town and how we have our trash set up, that items must be sorted properly. The island has banned the use of plastic straws, plastic single use water bottles, styrofoam, balloons, and other items to keep Nantucket free of trash. If you see some sort of "plastic" on island with restaurants, it's biodegradable plastic. Be sure to sort your trash and recycling accordingly, never leave trash on our beaches, trails or town, and bring a reusable water bottle to fill up during your stay!

Don't rent a moped -- as enticing and fun as it sounds, the roads and traffic are not well suited for riding moped. They have a speed limit set on them, and you end up blocking traffic on roads. Rent an electric bike instead so you can use the bike lanes!

If taking the ferry, pre download a movie on your phone or tablet! There's little service or wifi on the boat. If it's a nice day, sit out on the deck. Also-- if taking the hyline, spring for the captain's view!

Getting to the island can be a game of planes, trains, and automobiles-- but more like planes, buses, trains, and ferries. I recommend giving yourself a good amount in between layovers and traveling because the weather can be so unpredictable any time of the year. Have some buffer time in between the bus and ferry or flight you are trying to catch incase one is late or cancelled. Ultimately, how difficult it is to get here makes it that much more of a special destination!

Going out? Wear flats! Cobblestones and bumpy sidewalks makes Nantucket really hard to wear high heels, if you must-- opt for a wedge!

Nantucket does have uber and lyft, it’s just very limited. There’s a cab stand at the bottom of main street, I recommend grabbing cash before getting into the taxi. For pick ups and drop offs, you can also call cabs to schedule them ahead of time.